With a spate of start-ups selling organic food and snacks with zero preservatives and no sugar additives, accompanied by a rise in mobile apps touting 5-mins workout sessions, staying fit has become the new-age mantra. But is this all there is to living a healthy lifestyle?
Understanding Healthy Lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle involves physical, emotional, and social well-being. It is not only about eating the right calories and doing exercises to maintain weight. It is also about staying happy, having a positive self-image, and maintaining great relationships with the people around you.
How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle?
To maintain a good and healthy lifestyle, you need to first define what a healthy lifestyle looks like to you. Not everyone has to be fit enough to run marathons and indulge in keto dieting. Your healthy lifestyle goals could simply be to maintain your weight (or burn that extra fat), have a healthy social life, and maybe even meditate from time to time.
Once you have zeroed in on your goals, feel free to practice any (or all!) of the healthy lifestyle tips that we elaborate on below.
Healthy Lifestyle Habits
Eat a Rainbow
Gasp! A Rainbow? Well, yes, rainbow-coloured foods. In other words, the next time you visit the grocery store, pick out brightly-coloured food items that are high in antioxidants. Some examples include bananas (white), apples (red), avocados (green), and blueberries (purple)… you get the drift, right? In vegetables you can choose spinach (green), capsicum, bell pepper (yellow and red), carrot (orange), etc. You can further improve your diet plans by swapping out wheat for healthier alternatives, such as multi-grains, oats, buckwheat, quinoa, etc.
Bid Bye to Processed Foods
We probably sound like a broken record here. Don’t we all already know that foods rich in added fats, sugar and trans fats are bad for our health as they dramatically worsen our cholesterol levels and trigger overeating? But let us insist anyway; keep off fried and junk food and curb your sugar intake.
Stay Hydrated
Water is essential for the healthy maintenance of bodily functions. Don’t skip drinking water just to avoid frequent water breaks. Develop a habit of drinking at least 2-3 litres a day, unless suffering from severe medical conditions.
Keep on Moving
Sigh! We know it’s challenging. Got to sit on those ergonomic chairs while being productive at work. But, really, is it that hard to take a break after an hour or two, just to stretch? Or to walk for 10 minutes post lunch? Would it hurt if you cut down your time spent on mindless scrolling on social media apps?
Maybe a little, initially. But it’s all good in the long term when it helps you keep a healthy lifestyle, isn’t it? Form a habit of walking for 20-30 minutes after dinner. Wake up early and exercise before you log in for the day. Trust us; it helps. Not only will your body feel better, but so will your mind.
Keep Up Socially
Many studies conjecture that the risk of depression is way higher for those with low-quality social relationships. Being introverted is a thing, sure. But that doesn’t have to mean that you keep zero contact with your friends and neighbours. To have better mental health, try to take out time at least once a week to video call your family or stop by while on your way to work to chat with a neighbour.
Do Things That You are Passionate About
We all have commitments—deadlines for work and spending time with family. This shouldn’t, however, translate into zero ‘me time.’ Develop a new hobby, if you already don’t have one. Indulge in things that you genuinely like; maybe catch the new episode of your favourite show, watch a concert, join a painting class, workout regularly or go out for a swim. This would help abate stress levels and keep you emotionally happy.
Get That Beauty Sleep
Circadian rhythm is a thing, a thing so worthy that 3 scientists were given a Nobel for it. Suffice it to say that Sleep time = Repair time. Even functions like memory consolidation and appetite regulation are carried out when your body is resting. You should aim to sleep for anywhere between 6 to 8 hours a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Regulate Stress Levels
Life is fast and bumpy; there will be times when things won’t go your way, thus aggravating stress levels. Stress—a precursor for anxiety, heart disease, high blood pressure, and insomnia—needs to be regulated to live a healthy life.
One way you can go about this is to sweat it out in the gym or by going for a run. Another method is to surround yourself with positive energy and by forcing yourself to dwell on the positive side of things. Thirdly, you can also try to get into meditation and journaling to streamline your thoughts. Finally, if nothing else works, don’t stay in your mind’s prison, instead seek therapy from a professional.
Healthy Lifestyle: Benefits
A healthy lifestyle is all about being physically, mentally, and socially fit. Some of the healthy lifestyle benefits include:
Disease Prevention
Exercising daily, eating well, and resting adequately can minimise the risk of contracting chronic, life-threatening diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, and cancer. It may even lower the risk of genetic diseases if your health plan accounts for it.
Improved Idea of Self
A healthy mind resides only in a healthy body. When you are emotionally sound, you have a better sense of self-esteem and self-image, thus making you feel happier.
Money Savings
Prevention is better than cure. When you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you save on consultation fees and medical expenses. Or rather, you end up channelising these savings towards your old-age expenses since you are more likely to live longer.
Why Giving Up on Bad Habits is Necessary?
Having an all-or-nothing mindset may be admirable, but it is most definitely not sustainable. Is breaking a bad habit necessary? Of course. You don’t want to be saddled with chronic illnesses and poor emotional health. Letting go of excessive alcohol intake and smoking will surely improve your health by leaps and bounds.
Similarly, aren’t pizzas and fries high in calories? Sure are. Should you be avoiding them? No brainer. But can you seriously imagine your life without ever consuming junk and processed food?
The road to a healthy lifestyle demands moderation. Balance out your cookie consumption with a week of healthy eating, regular workout and resting well. Limit your alcohol and high-calorie food consumption. However, if moderation is not your thing, then go down the abstention route and consult with a doctor.
Remember, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not hard if you believe so. Just start by making small changes, and soon you will have turned over a new leaf in your wellness journey.
FAQs:
Q: What are 10 healthy lifestyle plans?
A: The 10 healthy lifestyle plans provide tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and monitoring body weight. Some of the healthy lifestyle habits have been enumerated below:
- Limit sugar, salt, and fat intake
- Eat healthy meals
- Stay hydrated by drinking 2-3 litres of water
- Take vitamin supplements to ensure sufficient nutrient intake
- Curb your screen time and sitting time
- Move around, lift weights, and get some physical activity
- Sleep for 7-8 hours
- Limit your alcohol intake to a glass or 2 a day
- Develop a hobby to better manage your emotions and stress levels
- Measure your inches and track your weight on a weekly basis
Q: What is the importance of a healthy lifestyle plan?
A: Armed with a healthy lifestyle plan, you can improve your quality of life materially. A healthy lifestyle plan usually accounts for your medical history, current health condition, and long-term health goals. It acts like a step-by-step guide through which you slowly but surely improve your nutritional intake and keep chronic illnesses at bay. Meeting smaller goals can, in turn, motivate you further to set bigger and better goals.
Q: How do I change my lifestyle habits?
A: Changing your lifestyle habits can be challenging, particularly when you need to transform multiple aspects of your lifestyle all at once. You can make this process easier by making a plan based on SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) goals. You will realise that it is easy to stick to the plan when you focus on changing one behaviour at a time. Making healthy lifestyle changes can be easier if you manage to snag a similarly-minded friend.
